Positions on Legislation
PRIORITY BILLS
Sponsored
AB 1134 Medical Enterprise Zones: Student Loans: Tax Credits
Supported
AB 1155 Health Care Service Plans
AB 1312 Medi-Cal: Health Service Costs
AB 1390 Health Care Service Plans: Unfair Payment Patterns
SB 606 Pharmaceutical Information
Opposed
AB 1444 Physical Therapists: Scope of Practice
SB 993 Psychologists: Scope of Practice: Prescribing Drugs
AB 425 Vehicles: Motorcycles: Safety Helmets: Exception
OTHER BILLS
Support
AB 1324 Health Care Coverage: Rescinded Coverage
SB 623 Medi-Cal: Drug Benefits
AB 1226 Medi-Cal: Provider Enrollment
AB 1268 Medi-Cal: Fiscal Intermediary Services
AB 606 Medi-Cal: Reimbursement Rates
AB 330 Health Disparity Report
AB 834 Dental Disease Prevention Programs
AB 1 Health Care Coverage: Children
AB 90 Pupil Nutrition: Trans Fats. (Meal Service)
AB 97 Food Facilities: Trans Fats
AB 110 Drug Paraphernalia: Clean Needle and Syringe
SB 320 California Health Care Information Infrastructure
SB 490 Pupil Nutrition: Trans Fats
SB 564 Public School Health Center Support Program
AB 308 Medi-Cal: Early and Periodic Screening, and Diagnosis Services
AB 423 Health Care Coverage: Mental Health Services
AB 1429 Cervical Cancer Vaccination
AB 86 School Food Nutrition: Trans Fat
AB 1134 (Dymally) Medical Enterprise Zones: Student Loans: Tax Credits
Summary:
This bill would create "Medical Enterprise Zones." Within these areas, primary care physicians would receive tax credits (hiring and equipment credits); family medicine training programs could receive support from health plans and hospitals (which, in turn, would receive tax incentives for their contributions); and, hospitals would have to notify the state well in advance of their intent to close down family medicine residency training programs within the Medical Enterprise Zone. Such notice would additionally trigger legislative and other public hearings on the threatened closure.
Position: Sponsor
AB 1155 (Huffman) Health Care Service Plans
Summary:
When the Deptartment of Managed Health Care finds that an HMO has unlawfully underpaid a physician, this bill would require the penalty amount to - at a minimum - equal the amount of the underpayment plus interest. The bill would require the enforcement action to ensure that the physician is compensated by the HMO for the full amount of the unlawful underpayment. This bill would also ensure that the penalty amounts assessed against the HMOs for bad behavior are not used to benefit the HMOs by specifying the specific use for such penalty amounts.
Position: Support
AB 1312 (Emmerson) Medi-Cal: Health Service Costs
Summary:
This bill would require the Director of Health Care Services to increase reimbursement rates for physician services and hospitals under the Medi-Cal program to a level that equals 80 percent of the Medicare reimbursement rate for those same services. It would specify that the adjustment does not apply to physician services for which reimbursement already equals or succeeds the 80 percent rate.
Position: Support
AB 1390 (Huffman) Health Care Service Plans: Unfair Payment Patterns
Summary:
This bill requires Department of Managed Health Care to provide on its Web site a quarterly update on the number and outcome of complaints received by providers.
Position: Support
Summary:
Allows reimbursement for multiple services (most notably mental health and other) provided on the same day, in the same location in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or Rural Health Center.
Position: Support
SB 606 (Scott) Pharmaceutical Information
Summary:
This bill would require a pharmaceutical company that sells, delivers, offers for sale, or gives away pharmaceutical drugs within the state to make publicly available the results of every completed clinical trial for that drug and an explanation of noncompletion for any clinical trial that the company initiates or sponsors the initiation of but does not complete. This applies to all but phase I trials.
Position: Support
AB 682 (Berg) HIV/AIDS Testing
Summary:
This bill would remove the required written consent for HIV/AIDS testing and would instead require a medical care provider - prior to ordering the test - to inform the patient that the test is planned, provide information about the test and advise the patient that he or she has the right to decline the test.
Position: Support
AB 1444 (Emmerson) Physical Therapists: Scope of Practice
Summary:
This bill expands scope of practice for Physical Therapists to include examination, evaluation, testing and initiating treatment of patients.
Position: Oppose
AB 1214 (Emmerson) Waiver of Benefits
Summary:
This bill allows HMOs and other insurers in California to not provide certain benefits that are currently mandated under state law and Knox Keane regulations.
Position: Oppose
SB 993 (Calderon) Psychologists: Scope of Practice: Prescribing Drugs
Summary:
This bill would, with certain exceptions, authorize the Board of Psychology to grant a prescription certificate or a conditional prescription certificate to a licensed psychologist authorizing the prescription of certain drugs if certain conditions are met.
Position: Oppose
AB 425 (Adams) Vehicles: Motorcycles: Safety Helmets: Exception
Summary:
Exempts adults 18 years or older who have taken a Motorcycle Training Program from wearing Motorcycle Safety Helmets.
Position: Oppose
AB 1324 (De La Torre) Health Care Coverage: Rescinded Coverage
Summary:
This bill provides consumer protection from retroactive rescinding of health coverage by insurers. The bill changes the standard from omission of information to "willfulness representation."
Position: Support
AB 898 (Saldana) Nutrition Education
Summary:
Requires Dept of Public Health to establish and administer pilot school based "Promatores de Salud" around nutrition education and obesity prevention program.
Position: Support
AB 915 (Hernandez) Medi-Cal Managed Care
Summary:
Requires the DHCS to establish incentives that Medi-Cal managed care plans may use to promote preventive care services.
Position: Support
SB 623 (Wiggins) Medi-Cal: Drug Benefits
Summary:
Requires the Department of Health Care Services to pay the copayments for individuals enrolled in MediCare prescription drug coverage who are also enrolled in Medi-Cal (dual eligibles).
Position: Support
AB 1226 (Hayashi) Medi-Cal: Provider Enrollment
Summary:
This bill would deem a physician enrolled and in good standing in the Medi-Cal program who is changing locations within the same county eligible to continue enrollment at the new location by filing a change-of-location form in lieu of submitting a complete application package.
Position: Support
AB 1268 (Dymally) Medi-Cal: Fiscal Intermediary Services
Summary:
Allows Medi-Cal providers additional flexibility in the way they transmit claims, and may expedite payment.
Position: Support
AB 606 (Galgiani) Medi-Cal: Reimbursement Rates
Summary:
This bill increases Medi-Cal reimbursement levels for medical and dental services by 5 percent beginning in January 2008.
Position: Support
AB 330 (Hayashi) Health Disparity Report
Summary:
This bill requires OSHPD to develop a "Health Disparity Report" that would asses the levels of measurable health disparities in the state among minorities and deliver the plan to the legislature by January 2010. Included in this report are diabetes and asthma care.
Position: Support
AB 834 (Hayashi) Dental Disease Prevention Programs
Summary:
This bill will increase oversight and uniformity of community dental disease prevention programs by creating a state-level advisory committee to provide recommendations to local programs regarding clinical best practices. In addition, this bill increases emphasis on supporting local programs that are able to draw additional funding from federal sources as well as local and in-kind support, and establishes $10 as a minimum per-child reimbursement.
Position: Support
AB 1 (Laird) Health Care Coverage: Children
Summary:
This bill expands eligibility for the Healthy Families Program from 250 to 300 percent of the poverty level. Includes presumptive eligibility components.
Position: Support
AB 90 (Lieu) Pupil Nutrition: Trans Fats. (Meal Service)
Summary:
This bill would prohibit a school or school district from serving or selling to pupils, during school hours, any food containing artificial trans fat, and would prohibit the use of artificial trans fat in the preparation of a food item served or sold to pupils.
Position: Support
AB 97 (Mendoza) Food Facilities: Trans Fats
Summary:
This bill would require every food facility to maintain on the premises the label required for any food that includes any fat, oil, or shortening, for as long as this food or food additive is stored, distributed, served by, or used in the preparation of food within the food facility .
Position: Support
AB 110 (Liard) Drug Paraphernalia: Clean Needle and Syringe
Summary:
Authorizes funding for sterile hypodermic needles and syringes in support of the Clean Needle and Syringe exchanges projects administered by the state Department of Public Health for HIV prevention.
Position: Support
SB 320 (Alquist) California Health Care Information Infrastructure
Summary:
This bill requires the Health and Human Services Agency to deliver to the legislature a plan to make available electronic health records for every resident of the state.
Position: Support
SB 490 (Alquist) Pupil Nutrition: Trans Fats
Summary:
Prohibits a school or school district from making available food containing trans fat in their prepared food, and in vending machines.
Position: Support
SB 564 (Thomas) Public School Health Center Support Program
Summary:
This bill would expand support for school-based health centers
Position: Support
AB 308 (Galgiani) Medi-Cal: Early and Periodic Screening, and Diagnosis Services
Summary:
This bill would require the State Department of Mental Health, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, to adopt regulations to provide for the prompt reimbursement to counties of Medi-Cal claims for the provision of services under the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment Program.
Position: Support
AB 423 (Beall) Health Care Coverage: Mental Health Services
Summary:
Under existing law, a health care service plan contract and a health insurance policy are required to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of severe mental illnesses of a person of any age. Existing law does not define "severe mental illnesses" for this purpose but describes it as including several conditions. This bill would expand this coverage requirement for a health care service plan contract and a health insurance policy to include the diagnosis and treatment of a mental illness of a person of any age and would define mental illness for this purpose as a mental disorder defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV.
Position: Support
AB 1429 (Evans) Cervical Cancer Vaccination
Summary:
This bill requires health plans and insurers to provide cervical cancer vaccination coverage.
Position: Support
AB 86 (Lieu) School Food Nutrition: Trans Fat
Summary:
Prohibits food items containing artificial trans fats from being sold in schools (Snack food).
Position: Support
AB 855 (Hayashi) Medi-Cal: Managed Care
Summary:
Requires Medi-Cal contracts to include substance abuse treatment services equivalent to those now available in healthy families.
Position: Support
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